7 little-known facts about Pender County's favorite crop

PENDER COUNTY -- This weekend thousands will descend on Burgaw to celebrate the harvest of high bush blueberries at the North Carolina Blueberry Festival.

A recipe contest, car show, arts and crafts will all be on display in honor of Pender County's favorite crop. The good news for Pender is that the demand for blueberries continues to rise. They are versatile: eaten raw, cooked in desserts, or incorporated into savory dishes. They freeze well, travel well and get baked into muffins, bread and pancakes.

Americans have always loved blueberries, but now that they are considered a superfood rich in antioxidants, vitamin C, manganese and more, the consumption of blueberries had doubled in the last decade, according to the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council.

Here are some little-known facts about blueberry bushes and harvesting to make you a blueberry expert.

1. Hundreds of varieties

Locally you might find Rebel, O'Neal, New Hanover, Legacy, Star and Duke. But there are hundreds of varieties being grown around the world, with more being cultivated each year. All the varieties look slightly different and have different flavors and multiple varieties might end up in a single pint sold at the grocery store, which is why each bite may taste different.

2. Pender county soil

Blueberries are grown in Pender County specifically because of the unique soil blend. It's a sandy loam: a mixture of black dirt rich in organic matter and sand. The combination fertilizes the berries and the sand helps drain the soil quickly. Farmers grow the bushes on small dirt mounds in rows.

3. Antioxidant-rich green berries

I challenge you to taste an unripe blueberry -- a green berry. They will make your face pucker up more than a lemon Warhead candy. But plenty of people seek out the green berries for their health benefits. While the taste is pretty bad, some people purchase the green berries or ask farmers for them. Some blend the berries into smoothies because they have a high concentration of antioxidants.

4. Color sorters

Speaking of green berries, when farmers pull in flats of blueberries from a harvester, some of the berries that are harvested are green. To prevent the green berries from heading to the grocery store, the berries fresh from the farm are poured into a color sorter. This machine uses special technology to identify berries that are green or purple and not yet ripe. It separates the berries and sends the ripe ones into a packaging line. Workers further pick out any berries not fit for your refrigerator before they are packaged neatly in containers and boxes.

5. Harvesting

In Pender County, farmers use two methods for harvesting blueberries. Hand pickers carry bags or buckets on their waists. They slide their hand gently down each branch of a bush and pull the berries into the bucket row-by-row. The hand pickers return to the same farms each year. They start in the south and travel north every few weeks from Florida and Georgia, ending the season in Maine, Michigan and Canada in late summer.

Machine harvesters look like giant tractors. With metal arms in its center, the harvester drives over a row of blueberry bushes without damaging it. The metal arms gently shake the bush branches and the berries fall onto mini conveyor belts that dump into flats on the back of the harvester.

6. Frost protection

During the late spring in North Carolina, blueberry farmers are on high alert as the bushes start to produce little flower buds that will grow into berries. A spring frost in March or April could ruin the crop. To stop the buds from being damaged, farmers run their irrigation systems at night during the frost incident. This turns the blueberry bushes into icicles. While that may seem counter intuitive, totally freezing the buds actually protects them, while bare exposure to a frost would create a freezer burn effect on the buds.

To do this farmers stay up through the night checking on their irrigation systems to make sure the bushes are totally encased in ice. Decades ago Pender County farmers tried the opposite during frosts by lighting piles of tires on fire to keep the bushes and berry buds warm. That is not done today, for obvious reasons.

Be sure to give your local blueberry farmer a hug in March. And maybe a cup of coffee.

7. Fall colors

The prettiest sight is looking down a blueberry row full of berries ready to pick. But a close second is seeing the bushes in fall colors. Blueberry bushes turn neon orange and rusty red in the fall, making the rows and rows of leaves a breathtaking view.

It is also a fast and easy dinner dish when you have leftover eggs, bacon, bread and blueberries.

Ingredients

One pint of blueberries

1 cup 100 percent maple syrup

1 tablespoon powdered sugar

4 ounces of pancetta, diced

4 day-old croissants or bread slices

6 large eggs

1 1/2 cups half and half

2 tablespoons vanilla extract

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

pinch of salt

3 tablespoons of butter

Combine eggs, salt, vanilla, sugar in a bowl. Slowly whisk in the cream and cinnamon.

Dice pancetta and cook it down in a cast iron skillet with half a tablespoon of butter on medium heat. Once crispy, set aside on a paper towel.

Slice up croissants lengthwise and soak pieces in the egg mixture for several minutes, then turn over and repeat. Dust on a little more cinnamon on the cut side and place on the skillet on medium with butter. Cook for several minutes on each side and repeat for each slice. Keep slices warm in a 200 degree oven.

In a sauce pot combine blueberries, maple syrup and powdered sugar. Place on medium high heat and boil for about 10 minutes.

To serve, layer the croissant slices with the blueberry glaze, pancetta, and slices of brie cheese. Sprinkle on chopped mint (optional.)

Reporter Ashley Morris can be reached at 910-343-2096 or Ashley.Morris@starnewsonline.com

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.